Course description

Why study this course?

1st in the UK for the quality of physics research

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Top 20 in the UK for physics and astronomy

Complete University Guide 2025

Institute of Physics (IOP) accredited course

This course is accredited by the IOP for fully meeting the educational requirement for Chartered Physicist.

Build connections and a career

Opt to spend a full year on a work placement. Our students have secured placements with a range of organisations, including CERN, Jaguar Land Rover, Sellafield, EDF Energy, UKRI and the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes.

Explore the principles that defined scientific thinking up to the 20th century, then dive into areas like relativity and quantum mechanics that have led to countless discoveries.

Taught across two departments, the Theoretical Physics BSc from Sheffield puts an emphasis on the fundamental mathematics that has brought physicists ever closer to a ‘theory of everything’.

As well as the foundation of essential physics given to all physics students, you’ll build a much more detailed understanding of mathematical concepts thanks to lectures delivered by our colleagues in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. They’ll introduce you to calculus, geometry, differential equations, linear algebra, and mechanics and fluids, too.

In practical classes in your first year, you’ll run experiments using the equipment in our modern laboratories to help you understand how important theories apply to the real world. In programming classes you can learn skills that are key to many graduate careers, from data science to computer game design.

And because curiosity is what powers discovery, we’ll encourage you to dive into optional modules during your third year – exploring topics like dark matter and mathematical biology, alongside core modules in quantum mechanics and statistical physics.

Finally, you’ll have the option to gain hands-on research experience investigating a real-world physics problem, undertake an industrial group project, or take an education and outreach project intended for those considering a career in teaching.

Book an open day

Accredited by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for the purpose of fully meeting the educational requirement for Chartered Physicist.

Institute of Physics (IOP)

Programs

Theoretical Physics BSc

Theoretical Physics BSc